Thinking Out Loud

[SmallChunk]

I am simply just looking for better hunting opportunities.

First question. Iowa. Is there any reasonable chance of finding some decent public ground to hunt in Iowa if you are to draw a bow tag? Obviously I would take the time to scout spots, but would it be worth earning points for a tag and then spending the money on an out of state tag?

Which leads to my second question. Finding a lease in SE MN. I hear of guys having leases in that part of the state all of the time. Do these people just know the right People and get hooked up or is there a good way to find a lease. Maybe this is a better way to spend your money as I would already have a license, it's closer to me and you have the possibility of hunting it for a couple of years. Thoughts? This is an open discussion. With the way deer hunting is anywhere in central and northern mn, there has to be others looking to do the same?

 

[MoBuckChaser]

There is some great hunting in Iowa WMA. Southern counties have some great spots that produce good deer. Here is a link that shows them all.

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/PlacesToHuntShoot/WildlifeManagementAreas.aspx

 

[MoBuckChaser]

You can lease all the hunting land you want anywhere, including SE MN, and it is easy to do, but it all comes down to how much money you want to spend? If you want great hunting, and are not prepared to spend any money to get it..........Probably ain't happening.

 

[wiscwhip]

Leasing in SE MN is starting to become big business. More and more guys I work with from across the river tell me that their bordering properties are being leased. Many of them are being leased by outfitters and if you haven't read some of my other posts, a few guys are telling me some of them are letting their clients cross non leased private property to access their leases and even hunt on lands they do not lease. Don't get me wrong, there are still good leases to be had in the area, you just have to be on your game and ready to commit when the right ones come open. I did hear of one outfitter who had to let a bunch of his lower quality leases go because he couldn't pay the rents. Buddy told me he kept his 3 largest leases and let like 3 or 4 smaller parcels go last fall. From how he made it sound, they were all leased by the time gun season rolled around. I think a guys best bet would be to keep a close eye on the Craigslist pages for Rochester, the Cities, and maybe even the La Crosse WI page, or maybe some of the realty sites that do leasing like Mossy Oak and Whitetail Properties and be ready to pay a premium for their services. Good public hunting in SE MN is pretty hard to come by from what the guys that live over there tell me. Good luck in your search!

I just checked out the La Crosse CL page and there are tons of "Wanted to lease" ads for leases in SE MN and Houston Co., I didn't see a whole lot that said "Land For Lease" in that area though. The Rochester page was almost all "Wanted to Lease" ads.:( I guess you could put up your own CL ad and be one of the 50 or so guys that are "Looking For Land to Lease"?

 

[shawnv]

I have hunted Iowa land a couple times, 5 years apart and have had buddies hunt in-between so I feel like I have a pretty good perspective. If you are happy to see way more deer than you do in MN then your chances are excellent, if your goal is to harvest a 3.5 year old buck your chances are pretty good and if your are out to kill one 4.5 years it will be tough but still possible. Iowa like every other state has had guys lose hunting land to urban expansion, leasing and etc so each year you see more and more residents hunting the public ground. 5 years ago the pressure was not bad and you could get back in there and be all alone and I had the most incredible week of hunting ever minus the buck I shot being taken before I found where he was. Today you'll not be alone even way back in on the public ground so dealing with other hunter's is just something you have to deal with. Note not all spots are crowded at the same time, one day you might have 2 guys hunting 750 acres and 12 the next.

Iowa residents will scare you about gun hunting Iowa public land but it's not worse than what we see here in MN or WI on public land. Their concept of hunting pressure is a little skewed yet.

 

[bwoods11]

Public land in Iowa is good. There is one big block in Clarke county that is excellent.

If you plan on hunting Iowa don't be afraid to drive down in spring to shed hunt or whatever and then ask permission on various private farms.

Many farmers do not mind having a NR bow hunter. It's a once in every three years deal so they know that you will not be there much.

Personally, I'd recommend finding a solid public parcel with at least one private farm.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

It seems like a lot of people are looking for land to lease in SE MN, but I really don't think that a lot of the older people with the land that potentially could be for lease would look at Craig's list. I think an ad in the classified section of a small town newspaper from towns in Houston County would be a good place to start. I would even list what you would be willing to pay to rent a good 80 acre chunk since some landowners may not think they could get much for their property and might be interested in making an extra $2000 or something. I'm guessing it would take $20-$40 per acre to rent a good property, but that's just a rough guess. There's a lot of people looking for land to lease and there doesn't appear to be a lot of land for lease, so it will probably be expensive.

 

[wiscwhip]

The Caledonia Argus has a huge readership down here. It might be a good place to start? Another good one would be the Spring Grove Herald.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

i know that Bill Winke and alot of his Iowa Midwest Whitetail guys hunt public land in Iowa every year on their web series. They seem to have pretty good success on very good deer.

 

[bwoods11]

i know that Bill Winke and alot of his Iowa Midwest Whitetail guys hunt public land in Iowa every year on their web series. They seem to have pretty good success on very good deer.

Good point!!

Public land in Southern Iowa is harwood ridges, creek bottoms, cedar thickets. It's good. Public land in my area of MN, has cattails, some willows, brome grass and now cattle grazing it. Big difference!!!

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Good point!!

Public land in Southern Iowa is harwood ridges, creek bottoms, cedar thickets. It's good. Public land in my area of MN, has cattails, some willows, brome grass and now cattle grazing it. Big difference!!!

yeah and if memory serves some of it was adjacent to private ag land...as i think i remember them talking about a nearby cornfield while they were on a public land hunt. then again maybe the state rents out some of its land to farmers?

 

[sandbur]

Good point!!

Public land in Southern Iowa is harwood ridges, creek bottoms, cedar thickets. It's good. Public land in my area of MN, has cattails, some willows, brome grass and now cattle grazing it. Big difference!!!

Some public land in your area needs to be managed for wintering of deer. Browse, conifers, and probably a corn or bean foodplot. There is too much emphasis on grasses and birds in my opinion.

Perhaps, some of those lands for wintering of deer would have to be closed to hunting at an earlier date.

 

[Jeff23]

yeah and if memory serves some of it was adjacent to private ag land...as i think i remember them talking about a nearby cornfield while they were on a public land hunt. then again maybe the state rents out some of its land to farmers?

I wondered about this- I have enough points to draw a bow tag in IA, and have been "computer researching" a good number of public lands. Some of them have what appears to be row crops growing on them, and I wondered if the crops are grown by "tenant farmers" or planted by the DNR or something?? Based on my research and some information shared to me by someone who walked these properties, there are still great possibilities on public land in IA.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I wondered about this- I have enough points to draw a bow tag in IA, and have been "computer researching" a good number of public lands. Some of them have what appears to be row crops growing on them, and I wondered if the crops are grown by "tenant farmers" or planted by the DNR or something?? Based on my research and some information shared to me by someone who walked these properties, there are still great possibilities on public land in IA.

I went out to Iowa to shed hunt and to go to the deer classic in Des Moines. We did some shedding on private ground in SE Iowa and some private ground. I remember that their was a lot ag around the public land. Some had posters and some didn't but we stayed off the fields that weren't posted because the idea of row crops on state land was foreign to us...lol.

 

[Jeff23]

Some had posters and some didn't but we stayed off the fields that weren't posted because the idea of row crops on state land was foreign to us...lol.

I hear that! Did you find out if the row crops were actually part of the public land, or just adjacent? Find any good sheds? I'm considering doing a spring turkey hunt/scouting trip in some of the areas I'm looking at.

 

[shawnv]

The Iowa DNR pays farmers to leave crops in certain areas so it very well was part of the public land. The Iowa has really nice pdf maps of every area.

 

[Jeff23]

The Iowa DNR pays farmers to leave crops in certain areas so it very well was part of the public land. The Iowa has really nice pdf maps of every area.

Very interesting...so, are the crops partially harvested or not harvested at all?

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I hear that! Did you find out if the row crops were actually part of the public land, or just adjacent? Find any good sheds? I'm considering doing a spring turkey hunt/scouting trip in some of the areas I'm looking at.

I have no idea what the status on that ground was...we had time to kill between the deer classic and the private land shed hunting we had arranged so we found some public land to walk. We didn't find much other than boot tracks on the public land because the deer Classic was fairly late into March so guys were pounding ground prettily heavily in the week or two before we got there. We found some decent sheds on the private ground but nothing huge.

 

[shawnv]

Very interesting...so, are the crops partially harvested or not harvested at all?

A little of both from what I've seen. I think each deal with the farmer is different.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

This WMA is 1 mile as the crow fly's from my Home Farm in Missouri. It has a lot of deer because it has thick cover and standing crops. It is barely hunted. I have seen very few cars in the Parking areas in the 5 years I have been driving by them. It is nothing for some of the deer I have video taped to be in the WMA and back in a day or 2. It would be the place I would hunt. Just saying!

The Bottom Border of this WMA is the IA/MO border! And the road J67 is a crappy gravel road, not a highway!